Carson Shaw walks it off as Perry advances over Whitewater

PERRY — For the second time in as many days, Perry’s season hung in the balance.

But, again, a senior came to the rescue to help the Panthers advance to the Elite Eight.

Carson Shaw stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, the score knotted at one.

Shaw swung, and missed, on the first two strikes he took. It looked like the game was going to extra innings and the Whitewater Wildcats were going to have a chance to advance.

Shaw took that away as he drilled the walk-off ball, which hit the Wildcats’ third baseman and rolled into the outfield as Nathan O’Rear stumbled on the baseman sprawled on the ground, got up and scrambled home for the game-winning run.

PHOTOS: See more scenes from Thursday’s electric win.

The final read 2-1, and a few Whitewater players kneeled on the field as the Panthers’ dugout emptied and chased down Shaw who was triumphantly holding his helmet in the air yelling, ‘Let’s go!’ as he ran into the outfield.

“I swung through the first two, wasn’t the best swings,” Shaw said. “I just went up there thinking I had to get the job done with two outs. It was gonna be nobody or me…I was fighting, got it done.”

Perry coach Denny Bryant corralled his players after the dogpile to exchange ‘good games’ with the Wildcats, and was emotional talking to his squad after the game.

“Those guys just come through, man, they keep coming through. It seems like it’s a different senior every night,” Bryant said. “I’m so dang proud of these guys man, they’re so gritty, they fight. When we play bad, it’s really bad. But when we’ve got our backs against the wall, these kids will fight. These seniors, they don’t want to play their last game.”

“I’m proud of all these guys, and coaches and our fans. I’m just proud of their efforts. Proud to be a Panther.”

Though Shaw finished it, Colter Ginn and Kam Vandersee both played a big role in clinching the series.

Vandersee started his first game in some time, and held Whitewater to one run with the help of a great defensive effort from the Panthers.

Vandersee walked two in the sixth inning as Whitewater threatened to expand their lead, but he struck out the next batter he saw and Perry tagged out a runner at third base to end the inning.

Bryant could be heard from the dugout in between innings, ‘Now somebody help him [Vandersee] out!’

Ginn heard him loud and clear.

Vandersee came up to bat to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and popped up for the first out.

Ginn came up and delivered a bomb that sailed over the left field fence to tie the game.

Without a staunch defensive effort and Ginn’s homer, the result may have been very different for the Panthers on Thursday.

“They made the plays that they needed to make. That gives a pitcher confidence to be able to throw it across the plate,” Bryant said. “This is what a Sweet 16 series should look like between two good teams. We found a way to win. It’s two games in a row where we’ve been down and had to keep fighting and have an inning where we take the lead and then close it out.”

UP NEXT

The Panthers once again get to play at home as they host North Oconee on Monday, May 6. Time is TBD.